Blues Roar Whimpers Out Again

Barclay Poole
May 22, 2001

Finally, after fifteen long years, the St. Louis Blues can say they reached the conference finals. Though, in the end, their playoff hopes were dashed by the Colorado Avalanche in 5 games, the Blues were within striking distance of the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1986. Blues fans must be happy with such a season, right? I doubt it.

The St. Louis Blues are an interesting organization. They've made 22 consecutive appearances in the playoffs, the longest current streak of any NHL club. But year after year, the season ends in disappointment. After almost 35 years in the league, the Blues have never won the Stanley Cup.

Last year saw huge expectations for the Blues. They finished as the top club in the regular season, only to get ousted in the first round of the playoffs by a lower ranked San Jose Sharks team.

Although injuries severely hampered the Blues regular season this year, the expectations were just as high. Late season acquisitions of Keith Tkachuk, Scott Mellanby and Cory Stillman all of a sudden made the Blues a deep, gritty team. But in the end, they were no match for a Forsberg-less Colorado Avalanche.

Why did the Blues lose? Goaltending comes to mind immediately. Roman Turek was awful in the Blues last series. His allowance of soft goals in games 3 and 4 killed any remaining confidence the team had left in him. It is nothing new though. He showed severe limitations in last year's series against the Sharks, as well as the latter portion of this year's regular season. We have seen year after year that it takes elite goaltending to win the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately for the Blues, they failed to upgrade their goaltending.

But there is more to the story. The Avalanche really were the better team. Knowing that they might be a little outgunned up front without Peter Forsberg, they relied on their strengths - outstanding goaltending and an all-star defensive corps. Roy consistently stopped laser beam shots from the blue line and one of the big three (Rob Blake, Ray Bourque and Adam Foote) were usually there to clear any rebound. The Avalanche forwards can be commended as well for coming back deep into their zone to help out.

The Avalanche looked like a very poised team throughout the series. Even when the Blues looked to be outplaying them pretty handily in games 3 and 4, the Avs' never collapsed. They scored timely goals and relinquished the lead in regulation time only once.

Maybe the Avalanche just wanted it a little more than the Blues. One of the best moments of the series occurred near the end of the second period in game 3, when a helmetless Chris Drury went down to block an Al MacInnis slapshot. Do you think he wants to hoist the Cup?

Blues fans will rehash the series for a few more days and then it will be chalked up as "just another year for the hard luck Blues." Heading into the summer though, will be some very tough questions for Blues GM Larry Pleau to answer.

Goaltending will be the first issue on his list. Turek has proven on more than one occasion that he's not to be counted on to lead this team to the promised land. Rookie Brent Johnson played phenomenal in game 5 against the Avalanche. Whether or not he's ready to take over as number one remains to be seen. Should Dominik Hasek become available a la unrestricted free agency, how good would he look in a Blues uniform?

Pierre Turgeon is also a major question mark. Year after year he puts up big numbers, but Blues management continues to balk at giving him a long-term contract. Though his playoff numbers were good, he will still end up taking flack for his lack of production against the Avalanche. Turgeon is an unrestricted free agent this summer and several teams will be calling on his services.

After being plucked from the Ottawa Senators organization for next to nothing, Pavol Demitra's popularity has slipped in St. Louis. Fans questioned his commitment during the regular season after facing several injuries and he was a non-factor in the playoffs. There is no denying his ability to get points, but when it mattered the most Demitra was hard to find.

Pleau gave up quite a price for Keith Tkachuk at the trade deadline. Ladislav Nagy, Michael Handzus, Jeff Taffe and a number one draft pick were surrendered for the power forward. His battles with Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote were certainly noticeable in the playoffs, but he was seldom found on the scoresheet. He is a restricted free agent and it will be interesting to see what kind of dollars the Blues will be willing to commit to him in the offseason.

One thing the Blues have going for them is strong ownership. Owner Bill Laurie has deep pockets and seems to be committed to bringing a winner to St. Louis. That is good because St. Louis fans will expect some additions from the rich free agent crop expected this summer. Names like Joe Sakic, Rob Blake, Jeremy Roenick, Brett Hull, Martin Lapointe, etc. will all be commanding big dollars. Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek may be in that group as well if Laurie wants a top-notch goalie.

One thing is for sure. The Blues gave St. Louis an entertaining playoff run. But it matters little after the collective breath was taken out of the city's lungs by Colorado's overtime winner in game 5. It is back to the drawing board. Unfortunately for the Blues, it is a drawing board that is all too often visited.

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